Digging Up Chumash Culture

Myths and legends, art and artifacts are all part of a benefit presentation Saturday by numerous experts of the Chumash Indian culture.

The California Indian Council is hosting Chumash Culture Day from 1 to 4 p.m. in Oficina Bella Vista, Suite 134, 409 Marion St., Thousand Oaks.

The fund-raiser will help the California Indian Council continue its efforts to preserve native cultures, archeological and burial sites.

Featured will be an extensive display of Kent Christenson’s 1,200-piece collection of North American Indian artifacts. The Thousand Oaks collector and authority on the Chumash culture will discuss how the items were used in ritual ceremonies and daily life.

Mike Ward, an Ojai artist and Chumash historian who was adopted by the tribe, will present a slide show, and Council Chairman Richard Angulo, a Chumash descendant, will speak on why the council needs the public’s help to preserve archeological sites. “To us, it’s like a library,” Angulo said. “If they are gone it’s like a page of history destroyed.”

Vera Rocha of Riverside, chairwoman of the Gabrielino Band Indian Council, and her husband, Manuel Rocha, the band’s spiritual leader, will discuss preserving burial grounds throughout Southern California.

Tickets are $10. For more information, call 496-6628.